Brush holder



Aug. 27, 1957 B. S. CLENDENlN BRUSH HOLDER Filed April 22. 1955 ff g INVENToR. Efe/wea L51' 25A/aww United States Patent O N' BRUSH HOLDER Bernard S. Clendenin, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application April 22, 1955, Serial No. 503,086 1 Claim. (Cl. 15--138) This invention relates to a holder for paint brushes of the type commonly used by art illustrators or the like.

Paint brushes of the class above referred to generally comprise a relatively long, slender handle which mounts a ferrule on one end thereof. The bristles of the brush are fixed in and extend from the free end of the ferrule. These bristles are relatively long and often the group of bristles converges toward the tip of the brush so as to enable a relatively line line to be produced.

Where only short strokes, or longer strokes which need not be straight or conform to any given curve are made, the brush by itself may be used quite satisfactorily. It is often necessary, however, that relatively long, straight or curved brush strokes be made. In the past it has been common practice to employ a straight edge or a curve for guiding the brush during the making of such strokes. Owing to the length of the bristles, the guide, to engage the ferrule, must be spaced a substantial distance above the paper. Thus, the guide must be held in one hand while the brush is held in the other with the result that a rather unstable guide is formed. Moreover, since the ferrules of such brushes are generally conically shaped, it is necessary that the guide be parallel with the paper so that the former will constantly engage the same portion of the ferrule since movement of the latter axially along the guide results in a different spacing of the brush tip from the guide. Such axial shifting of the ferrule along the guide would result, therefore, in a line which does not parallel the guide.

Another difficulty encountered in the use of existing brushes, is their inability to retain any susbtantial amount of paint or ink in the bristles. Thus, when drawing a relatively long line, it is necessary to frequently dip the brush in the ink or the paint, and unless the artist is exceedingly proiicient, the interruptions in the line will be readily apparent.

Accordingly, it may be stated as a general object of this invention, to provide a holder for brushes of the class described which obviates the above mentioned diiculties.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a brush holder of the class described which permits the brush, which is mounted in the holder, to be accurately and readily guided.

Still another object is the provision of a brush holder as in the foregoing which embodies a reservoir for retaining a supply of ink or paint so that the necessity of frequently removing the brush from the guide to replenish the supply of ink on the bristles is eliminated.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a brush holder as in the foregoing wherein the brush may be adjustably positioned axially of the handle for controlling the iow of ink to the paper.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the annexed drawings wherein:

Fig.`1 is a plan view of the brush holder of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the present brush holder taken subtantially along lines 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed view, in sec-tion, showing the tip of the present brush holder which forms the ink or paint reservoir, an artists brush being shown in operative position within the tip; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, the present brush holder, shown generally at 10, comprises a handle portion 11 and a tip portion 12. Handle portion 11, which may be of a plastic material, as indicated, has a tapered bore 13 extending into one end thereof, and tip portion 12 has a reduced diameter end portion 14 which is frictionally received and held in the large end of bore 13, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to permit removal of tip portion 12 from handle 11 for reasons to be presently seen. Reduced diameter portion 14 of tip 12 defines the shoulder 15 against which the end of handle portion 11 abuts.

The small end of tapered bore 13 communicates with an enlarged, internally threaded bore 16, opening to the other end of handle portion 11. The juncture of bore 13 with enlarged bore 16 is formed to provide a conical shoulder 17. Positioned in bore 16, and having a conical end surface abutting conical shoulder 17, is a lock sleeve 18 of some compressible, resilient material such as rubber. Threaded in bore 16, so as to abut the other end of` sleeve 18, is an externally threaded cap sleeve 19 having an enlarged head 20 at its outer end.

Tip 12, which may be formed of a metallic material,

as indicated, is of generally tubular construction and hasits free end portion generally conical shaped, as indicated at 21. The extreme end of tip portion 12 is formed to provide a reduced diameter cylindrical tip 22 through which extends a cylindrical bore 23. Bore 23 in tip 22 has, as illustrated, a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the lcentral portion of the bristles 24 of a brush 2S which is adapted to be mounted in the brush holder, as shown in Fig. 3.

The wall of tip portion 12 is cut away, as illustrated at 26, to provide a generally rectangular shaped opening which communicates with an ink or paint reservoir 27 formed by the interior of the conical end 21 of tip portion 12.

ln the use of the present brush holder, a. paint brush 25 is positioned within the holder, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, with the bristles 24 of the brush extending through bore 23 of tip 22. Cap sleeve 19t is threaded into bore 26 so as to compress resilient sleeve 18 between shoulder 17 and the cap sleeve. This axial compression of sleeve 18 causes the material of the sleeve to be forced into gripping engagement with the handle of brush 25 so that the latter will be xed against axial movement in the holder 10. It will be apparent that this lock and cap sleeve arrangement permits axial adjustment of the brush in the holder. The brush and holder are now positioned with their axes generally vertical and the reservoir 27 is lled with a suitable ink or paint through the opening 26 up to the lower marginal edge of opening 26. By making the diameter of bore 23 in tip 22 substantially equal to the maximum diameter of the bristles 24, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the ink or paint in reservoir 27 is precluded from flowing to the tip of the brush over the surface of the bristles but rather is caused to ow to the tip of the brush in between the bristles. This condition is desirable to provide for an even flow of the ink or paint onto the paper. The bristles may, however, flex over substantially their entire length since they are not tightly gripped by the holder. It will be observed that the Patented Aug. 27, 1957" 3 length of the bore 23 is such that the bristles 24 are capable of axial adjustment in the bore, to vary the effective length of the bristles extending exteriorly of the holder, between an inner limiting position wherein the maximum diameter section of the bristles is at the inner end of the bore and an outer limiting position wherein that section is at thel outer endlof thev boreV without altering the. clearance betweenVv the bristles and wall of the bore and hence the rate of flow of ink or other fluid from the reservoir 27 to the tip of the bristles. Also, since the bristles converge to a point, the clearance between the bristles and wall of bore 23 may be varied by inward axial adjustment of the brush in the holder so as to position the maximum diameter section of the bristles inwardly of the inner end of the bore and thereby control the rate of flow of ink to the paper according to the thickness of line desired.

When a line is to be drawn, a straight edge or curve is engaged with the cylindrical tip 22 which, because of its cylindrical rather than conical shape, provides a much more suitable surface for engagement with the guide than the ferrule of the brush and facilitates the drawing of straight or curved lines. Moreover, since tip 22 will be spaced relatively near the work, the straight edge or curve may be rested on the work so as to provide a relatively stable guide. Also, inasmuch as a supply of ink or paint is retained in reservoir 27, the brush need not be frequently removed from the guide and dipped in the ink with the result that long, uninterrupted strokes may be made.

In practice, several tip portions 12 would be provided differing only in the diameter of the bore 23, the different diameters of the bores corresponding to different brush sizes. These tip portions would be adapted to be interchangeably mounted on handle 11. Also, if necessary, several handles 11, having varying lengths, may be provided to accommodate a wide range of brush handle lengths.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that there has been described and illustrated a brush holder of the class described which is fully capable of achieving the objects and advantages heretofore set forth. While a preferred embodiment of the brush holder has been described and illustrated, it is to be understood that such specific description and illustration are for illustrative purposes only and that the invention is not to be restricted thereto except as limited by the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

In combination, an artists brush including a handle and a group of bristles extending from one end of the handle, said bristle group having a tapered tip portion and an enlarged maximum diameter section intermediate the ends of the group; and a holder for said brush comprising an elongate, hollow handle having said brush Vaxially adjustably received therein, said latter andle having a reservoir for containing drawing fluid, an opening for filling the reservoir, and a reduced axial cylindrical bore opening at its outer end through one end of the latter handle and opening at its inner en d into said reservoir; said bristle group extending through said bore beyond the end of the latter handle whereby uid is adapted to flow from the reservoir to the tip of the bristle group, said bore having a diameter such that the enlarged section of the bristle group just fills the bore and a length less than the tapered portion of the bristle group whereby the bristles are capable of relatively free exing in the bore and the bristle group may be adjusted axially inwardly of the latter handle to position said enlarged section beyond the inner end of said bore to f vary the rate of uid ow from the reservoir to the tip of the bristle group.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

